I am sorry for the long wait for this dish, but it has taken time to put together a recipe that I
am really happy with. It may seem long, but is really quite straightforward. I hope that you enjoy the result.
Seafood should always be fresh so I do not recommend preparing this dish in advance.

Prepare the green leaves by washing them in several changes of water (to remove any grit) and
discard any coarse stalks. Place the leaves in a large pot of boiling salted water and cook for
two minutes. Drain and refresh the leaves under running cold water. When they are cool, strain
them and pat them dry with kitchen towel.

Place the clams/mussels in a bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak for ten minutes.
Discard the water - leaving the clams/mussels - and refill the bowl with fresh water. Scrub each
of them thoroughly using a small stiff brush (a nail brush is ideal) remove any barnacles then
place back in the bowl of water. When they have all been cleaned, drain and refresh the water and
repeat the scrubbing process. If any of the clams/mussels are open, tap the shell with the handle
of a knife. If any remain open throw them away. If using mussels remove their beards at this
time.

Place the cleaned clams/mussels in a wide bottomed pan, cover and place on a high heat. After
one to two minutes check them frequently and remove those that are open. When they have all
opened up remove the pan from the heat. Detach the meat from the shells and set them aside in a
dish (if clams/mussels are large cut them into three pieces). Place a couple of sheets of kitchen
paper into a colander or sieve and carefully strain the clam/mussel juice into a bowl/jug.

Peel and de-vein the prawns (reserve the shells), then steam them (if raw) for one to two
minutes over boiling water (this will become stock). Then steam the fish for five minutes and the
scallops for three minutes (1 minute for queen scallops). The fish and seafood should be
undercooked at this stage or they will be rendered inedible after baking. If the prawns are large
cut them in half. Halve the scallops and break the fish fillets into flakes.

Add the reserved prawn shells, lemon and orange rind, wine, mussel/clam liquid and lemon juice
to the boiling water and boil rapidly until you are left with about 120ml (4 fl oz). Strain and
add to the béchamel sauce.

Heat half of the butter in a pan and gently fry the finely chopped onion until soft and a pale
golden colour. Add to the béchamel sauce.

When you have finished rolling out the fresh pasta cut the resulting strips to the length
required for your oven dish.

Cook the pasta sheets in
plenty of boiling salted water until a little less than
al dente
(with freshly made pasta this will take a matter of 30 seconds). Then plunge the sheets into cold
water for a minute to stop them cooking, rinse them under a cold tap to wash off any starch and
drain them on kitchen towels.

Preheat the oven (if baking immediately). Grease the oven dish with the rest of the butter and
line the bottom of the dish with a single layer of pasta strips (they should only just overlap).
Over this place a thin layer of seafood, a layer of leaves and a thin coating of sauce. Repeat
the procedure pasta/seafood/spinach/sauce finishing with a layer of pasta covered with sauce.
Sprinkle with half of the Parmesan cheese and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, allow to stand for ten minutes and serve with the remaining cheese.